This invention relates to a vacuum pick-up instrument of the general character disclosed in the Lasto et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,071,402 and in IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin Volume 9, No. 7. More particularly, the invention relates to a pick-up instrument of the general type disclosed in the Weber U.S. Pat. No. 1,449,358 and in the U.S.S.R. Pat. No. 248,952, wherein the instrument has manually operable means to rotate the picked up object.